The images
in the following program
are highly sensitive
and may be
as disturbing to viewers
as they were to us.
However, we have to
show the truth about
cruelty to animals,
praying that
you will help to stop it.
Today on
the Stop Animal Cruelty
program we bring you
the second and final part
our series
on the forgotten birds
of the broiler and
egg-laying industries –
the parents of the birds
used for egg
and meat production.
We continue our interview
with Patty Mark,
the founder and president
of the Melbourne,
Australia-based
non-profit group
Animal Liberation Victoria
about the callous
treatment of these birds
by the chicken industry
and the nightmarish
conditions inside
of what are known as
“parent bird sheds.”
Roosters and hens
are jammed together
in these
appallingly filthy sheds
for the purpose of mating.
Their offspring are then
savagely exploited
in factory farms
for their meat or eggs.
For over 30 years
Patty Mark and
Animal Liberation Victoria
have been standing up
for animal rights and
seeking to free animals
wherever humans are
inflicting cruelty upon them.
ALV focuses on
spreading the word
about veganism
because after many years
of lobbying governments,
signing petitions, and
holding demonstrations,
the group believes
it’s by far the quickest
and most effective way
to help put an end
to the suffering
and enslavement
of our wonderful
animal co-inhabitants.
In the early 1990s
Patty Mark pioneered
the concept of
the “open rescue”
and since then
Animal Liberation Victoria
has conducted
numerous such rescues
at factory farms, feedlots,
live export facilities
and abattoirs.
During an open rescue,
ALV members
go to facilities
that imprison animals
to give them aid
and veterinary treatment
and to rescue any sick
or dying animals.
Their living conditions
are also recorded on video.
The following is footage
from an open rescue
conducted at
a parent bird shed
in Victoria, Australia.
This is
a broiler breeder hen.
She’s been in this shed
for about a year.
She’s been
repeatedly mated.
She’s very, very heavy.
They’re a mess
aren’t they? (Yes)
They’re really a mess.
(They’re distressed.)
Look at her head.
That’s from
where the rooster
holds her head down.
There’s not a lot of
information out there,
like when you do a search
on the Internet,
about the atrocities
that occur in parent sheds.
Why do you think that is?
It’s very frustrating
because since
I first discovered it, and
I’ve been in a lot of sheds,
to me it was
the most horrific shed
I’ve been in and I feel like,
this really needs to
get out to the public,
but for some reason even
the animal movement isn’t
picking up on this yet.
I think perhaps
it’s the foundation
so people,
their minds don’t go there.
And let’s face it,
the overwhelming numbers
are their children,
are the actual little chicks
who are killed
when they’re only
six to seven weeks of age.
For instance
in the numbers,
they go from
the great-grandparents
who are only 20,000
down to the parent birds
where there’s six million
in Australia, and those
six million parent birds,
produce almost
500 million chicks
for flesh production.
So possibly it’s because
the greatest numbers are
the babies who are killed
even though they’re huge,
but, it’s important I think
that this hidden industry
that we do get it out there
and show that there’s
a lot more suffering
that doesn’t meet the eye.
And do you think that
the public is aware of
where these birds
that they consume
come from?
Oh not at all.
I don’t think the public
has much knowledge
or concept whatsoever
of where
these birds come from.
I personally believe
most of the public think
they eat laying hens,
battery hens.
They think they eat the hens
that are locked up
in the cages
or in the big farms.
So the fact that they just
see chicken nuggets
or fast food,
it just doesn’t click to them
how all this meat is there
in front of them.
It just doesn’t register.
Have you had
the opportunity, to show
the open rescue videos
to the public?
Yes, well we have them
on our websites of course
but I’ve taken
some of the footage
to the United States
at a conference over there
and showed it there,
and we show it
when we have
speaking engagements
here in Melbourne.
But more or less
these are just
small groups,groups
from 50 to 100 people.
We need to get it out
to the population
who are out there
eating all these birds.
So we had come into
an egg-laying shed.
And this is where
I’m just going to show you
three or four minutes
of footage.
And this is
for egg production.
It was in the middle
of the Black Saturday
bush fires.
We were determined to see
what had happened
to those chickens.
So our rescue team
went up there.
And we did a lot of
rescue work up there
mostly with starving cows
and that,
but we went to the farm
and everything around it
was burned flat.
It was, as we all know
just horrendous, but
the shed still stood there
and they were
still screaming.
And they’re still there now,
I’m sorry…
So I guess it became
my mission at that point …
to try to get people to see
there’re parent birds.
And there’re actually
grandparent birds.
This is why I think
it’s so important
for the animal movement
that we really
broaden our compassion,
open our minds that it’s
not just factory farming
we’re fighting, we’re
fighting animal slavery
that for some reason
humans think
animals are our slaves.
They’re not equal to us.
I mean, we’re humans!
And we are great.
There’re great things
humans have done
there’s no doubt about it,
but we’re no different
to other animals
in the fact that
we feel pain and pleasure
and have a right
to live our own life.
It’s not about
making the cages bigger
or the conditions better
or the abattoirs
more “humane.”
it’s about making a really
beautiful leap of faith
that we can live healthy,
strong lives and
let others live as well and
we’re going to benefit,
they’re going to benefit
and the planet
is going to benefit.
The parents
get in these horrible ...
you’ll see the footage
in a minute.
They’re
constantly screaming.
The hens are so exhausted.
Their backs are red raw.
They have
no tail feathers left
because the roosters
are there; they’re
being mated continually,
they can’t escape.
The roosters
are so exhausted.
Parent birds lay about
150 eggs a year
and they can be kept
and then incubated and
that’s how these
millions and billions of
little baby chicks get born.
And if they’re for
the egg-laying industry
their offspring become
free-range hens,
barn-laid hens
and battery-cage hens.
What have been
the general reactions
of the public who
have seen these videos?
The reaction is always
just total shock.
They can’t believe
what they’re seeing.
And they’re repulsed
and they’re saddened;
there’re tears.
They can’t smell it
because it’s video but
they can hear the screaming,
they can see
the very poor condition
of the birds and,
anybody looking at even
10 seconds of this footage
can see that this is
really, really wrong.
So, yes the few
that have seen it
can see it!
But the problem is
most people don’t see it
and the industry doesn’t
want you to see it.
They have their glossy ads
on TV that show
a few seconds in a shed
that looks like
there’s Sun streaming in.
It’s a big myth.
They just try to say
everything is fine
when nothing could be
further from the truth.
What can be done
to put an end
to these horrifying
parent bird sheds?
The best thing to put an end
to the parent bird sheds
and to virtually
all the suffering of these
animals in agriculture
is for humans to adopt
a plant-based diet
and to go vegan.
At the recent launch
of the 30 Day
Vegan Easy Challenge
organized by
Animal Liberation Victoria,
participants were shown
some of ALV’s
open rescue footage
from parent bird sheds
as well as other
animal-abusing facilities
and then
had the opportunity
to listen to a candid
and uplifting talk
by Patty Mark.
So when you’re not
around other vegans
it can be really hard.
So I would slip back.
And this happened
two or three times,
until my son,
he’s six foot three (inches)
and he now holds
the Australian Champion
(title) for
bench press weightlifting.
He’s got gold medals
for his weightlifting.
When he turned 15,
he did heaps of reading
and he said:
“Mom, I’m going vegan.”
And I said, “Oh, okay!
Good! Another vegan
in the house,
I’ll go with you.”
And that was
20 years ago this year.
So having somebody
around you, to support you
it means a lot I think.
But even if you don’t,
we’re all here
to support you through
the whole journey and
more and more people
are going vegan
but it does help
if you have people
around you that understand
and feel strongly about it.
Ms. Mark and the
Animal Liberation Victoria
open rescue team,
we are thankful
that you are publicizing
the untold horrors
of parent bird sheds and
spreading the message
that these
unconscionable facilities
need to close immediately.
We are also truly grateful
as your pro-animal work
in numerous areas
is opening up
people’s hearts in
Australia and elsewhere,
with more and more
individuals now choosing
to treat all living beings
with kindness and respect.
May all people soon
adopt the compassionate,
life-saving organic vegan
diet which is the quickest
and simplest way to
end the brutal treatment
and enslavement
of animals forever.
Thank you
Supreme Master
for this excellent series
and for inviting me
to be part of it.
Be Veg,
Go Green
2 Save the Planet!
To learn more about
the activities of
Animal Liberation
Victoria, please visit
the following websites:
www.ALV.org.au
www.OpenRescue.org
www.VeganEasy.org
Thank you
for joining us today
on Stop Animal Cruelty.
Enlightening Entertainment
is coming up next after
Noteworthy News.
May all of humanity
soon remember their
noble, true nature and
live in everlasting peace
and harmony
with all beings on Earth.